Unreal creates Turner Prize identity

This year’s event is to be held in a gallery known as Buildings 80 & 81 in Derry Londonderry, Northern Ireland, which is this year’s UK City of Culture.

Unreal was brought in to the project having been approached by Kindred, which is handling the marketing campaign for Derry Londonderry’s tenure as the inaugural UK City of Culture.

The visual identity is inspired by show’s setting, with a graphic device formed from the idea of the two banks of the River Foyle fusing together as they pass the Peace Bridge next to the gallery.

Ryan Tym, Unreal senior designer, says, ‘It’s the first time the Turner Prize is being held outside England so we felt it was important to inject a part of the location into the identity.

‘The connection of the two parts of the city formed the perfect centrepiece to this. The angular shapes also reflect the floor plan of the exhibition space itself.’

The branding device is used to house key partner and sponsor logos as well as the event hashtag, aiming to ensure ‘communications remain uncluttered’, according to Unreal.

Nominees for this year’s prize, whose winner will be announced on 2 December, include David Shrigley, painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, French installation artist Laure Prouvost and British-German performance artist Tino Sehgal.